Summer Vacation?

As many people are heading for medical school (or finishing up a year in medical school), the summer is a time for readjustment. This readjustment process can simply be looking a things that worked, or did not work, in terms of your studies. The readjustment process for those heading for medical school will be starting to simplify your life in order to anticipate and meet any challenges ahead.

Adjustments mean that one has to anticipate and evaluate all matters that involve your studies and your daily life in order to give your full attention to any tasks that must be completed. For example, for those starting medical school, most will have to adjust your study skills to master large amounts of information. The good part of this mastery is that the information will be presented in a manner for quick mastery but one has to have the mental confidence to put doubts behind and efficiently take care of your needs. In short, you won’t have time to be wasted. You have to hone in on what you need, ask for help with organization and keep moving as you adjust to the pace. Have the confidence to know that if you have been accepted into medical school, you have all of the tools to stay there.

If your year that is ending has not been as successful as you would like, make the adjustments that you need for success. Summer is a great time to have a chat with your faculty adviser in order to change anything that might need to be changed for the upcoming year. Allow the experience of your faculty adviser to guide your objectively so that you can be more successful. Rather than spending precious mental energy on comparing yourself to your classmates, compare yourself to you and upgrade you to master what needs to be mastered.

The most valuable lessons that I have learned in surgery, all center around one unchanging fact. That fact is that medicine/surgery demands that I constantly self-evaluate my practice, my learning and my approach to my work and make adjustments that will enable me to perform at my highest level. My patients don’t care about my doubts but only care about my ability to solve their clinical problems. To this end, I do my self-evaluation and self-criticism outside my clinical practice and bring my best into my clinical practice. I seek critique from my partners, my chairman and in many cases, from my friends who know me well.

I have to be willing to listen with an objective ear, something that is difficult for all of us whether we are inside or outside of medicine. We all love to believe that we are the best that we can be but part of that “believing that we are the best” requires that we have the mental ability to accept subjective criticism. Let the summer be a time that one seeks out the subjective, listens to what is valuable and rejects (be objective on your part), those items that don’t apply. Try to keep emotion out of this process as much as possible.

My other summer activity often centers around keeping (or getting) myself into the best physical condition possible. In my recent quest to master the marathon distance (26.2 miles), I have tended to neglect my strength training in favor of aerobic conditioning. While this has enabled me to lose plenty of weight, I know that I need to be both strong and aerobically sound. This summer will mean that I will spend some time with the weights again. At my age and at any age, strength training is great for discipline which is great for the demands of life (and medicine).

Physical conditioning and sports participation help to counter the extreme hours demanded by study and medical practice. Participation in team sports have always helped me appreciate the value that every member of the team brings to a successful challenge. In this manner, medicine is no different from winning a rugby match (my favorite team sport). Medicine, though the physician is at the top of the team, involves appreciation of the contribution and knowledge of every team members role in the health of your patients. Use your sports knowledge to help your professional knowledge and role as your learning moves along. Medicine is never practiced in isolation.

Summer is definitely a time to rest as well as readjust. This rest can take the form of a much deserved and needed vacation or simply involving yourself in something that is different from your medical studies. For me, travel is my rest and relaxation. My travels overseas have allowed me to look at other cultures that are far different from my own. My favorite activity is to put on my running gear and just explore my surroundings and observe people who are observing me. Every step that I take is a chance for me to connect with nature, my body and those around me. I tend to be the type of runner who greets those running around me and keeps moving. This habit has been a metaphor for my life and practice.

If you have a chance to do a bit of summer research, take the opportunity to relearn evaluation of scientific evidence, question practice guidelines and build up your knowledge database. Research moves at a slower pace than regular academic work thus taking a fresh look at your scientific questioning can be a useful undertaking. If you are new to research, summer is a great time to become familiar with the tools that will serve you well for the rest of your practice.

Medicine and surgery are professions of experience. Those with more experience teach and impart their knowledge to those will less experience. For me, a person who attended medical school at a later age, I learned that experience isn’t related to age. I learned to listen with care to those whose experience was greater than my own. Even today, I seek out experiences at every level because I appreciate the input of those who look at what I do with fresh eyes (those with less experience) and those with more experience. Medicine demands that I keep moving, just like my distance running demands that I keep moving.

Yes, summer is approaching quickly and will be gone just as quickly but summer offers an opportunity to slow down and self-evaluate. If part of that self-evaluation process involves reinvention of ones self as needed, then summer will be a great vacation.